Save officers from mental illness
Society need to recognise mental illness as a disease and, therefore, treat mentally ill people with love and dignity.
In recent years, policymakers have prioritised police and other first responders’ mental health. It's becoming clear that our first responders need help with drug use and mental health problems.
Many people have poor mental health. Mental illness is harmful to all, but when it’s common among police officers, the government should be concerned. One in four Kenyans with a medical problem has a mental illness. Depression is prevalent. While one in 10 police officers is battling with mental health issues, it should prick Kenya’s conscience and spur government action and public support.
The nation has 110,000 officers. Of these, 12,000 have mental health concerns. Money is one of the major barriers to treatment. The country has 14 general and regional hospitals with psychiatric services. Mathari Teaching and Referral Hospital has 700 beds. A quarter of patients suffer from mental health issues.
The Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Rashid Aman, said mental health hardly gets 0.01 per cent of the health budget. Mathari National Hospital has 70 mental nurses, leaving 180 in districts and provinces, or less than one per new district, two or three per current district. A lot of psychiatric nurses have retired, died, left the country, or joined NGOs, especially ones that work with HIV.
The National Police Service Commission said their recent survey on the mental status of officers showed between 12 and 13 per cent of them have mental issues. There is conflict among police officers. A number of factors might contribute to a police officer’s poor mental health. Two of the most widely recognised sources of police stress are operational stress (sometimes referred to as occupational or environmental stress) and organisational stress.
People usually think of “operational stress” as the stress and trauma that police officers deal with on the job. Exposure to traumatic situations such as car accidents, murder scenes, child abuse, sexual assault, and violence can leave officers vulnerable to Operational Stress Injuries. A mental health programme in the police force is desperately needed. This should involve placing mental health professionals at police stations, positions, and divisions.
Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer based in Canada. [email protected]
